I'm sorry but , given there is so little in Ward's record at 175 to work with, his resume is relevant where it concerns his Head-to-Head prowess at Light Heavyweight. On that, I asked what Ward had amassed at 175 going into his back-to-back contests with Kovalev; not what he achieved by beating Kovalev, so your first point is moot. Defeating a natural 175lber at 168, in Dawson? Again, the only important point here is that Dawson was not fighting at 175. (Also - Dawson was not a current 175lbs Titleholder, at the point Ward fought him, either.) So, what we're really left with is that Ward fought and beat a 17-0 contender, prior to Kovalev. I actually didn't see a really exceptional LHW in Ward. Perhaps, if he had defended against a few of the other top-10 guys (preferably, top-5); even attempted to unify with the WBC title, we might have seen him shine but, as it stands, he has two messy wins against Kovalev (but Wins all the same). If we're talking about the placement of a Boxer in a division's history, then I prefer to offset the quality of a win or a loss against more than what Ward had offered at Light Heavyweight, before meeting Kovalev. And whilst it serves Ward's resume well, the idea that the Kovalev Wins can be used to prop up Ward's credentials in order to, in turn, boost Kovalev's rating, seems like a circularly false evaluation to me.
With all due respect, a fighter can only fight the opponents of his era, not opponents from the past or future, or someone else's opponents. Bob Foster, Victor Galindez, Archie Moore, Saad Muhammad, and Michael Spinks had longevity on their side, great champions. Kovolov, a decent champion, did not train or take care of himself like the other greats. He wins and fans act like he is the second coming of Christ, but heaven help us if he loses, he is out of his prime. Past greats just kept on fighting, not worrying about the excuses of all excuses, he is not in his prime. When the others lost no one was crying, making excuses, making up prime years, 3-4 years ago.
LMFAOOOOOOOOOO!!! There's EASILY EASILY over 20 that I can name off the top of my head who would beat Kov.
I agree. He would make a top 50 list today. But, it is unlikely he is one of the top 50 Light Heavyweights to ever lace them up.
Kovalev--12 wins in title fights Foster--14 wins in title fights Galindez--11 "" (All WBA) Moore--10, but can't be judged the same/had a great career at 175 before winning a title. Saad--9 (All WBC, over only three years) Spinks--11 Imo the two with the most wins in 175 title fights also have the weakest win columns (and Galindez).
It does not matter the competition, you can only fight what is put in front of you, these guys like Galindez had tough competition, Richie Kates, Yaqui Lopez, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. The opponents of today are a flash in the pan. Kovalov's fans do not want to let go of him, I presume younger generation, but he lost to Canelo Alvarez, fair and square. The champions you listed fought more often than Kovolov ever did.
Kov had better offensive skills than any light heavy in history, he and Calzaghe were both Top 10 all-time light heavies, Joe had some of te fastest hands ever seen at light heavy.
Yes but Conteh defended better against hooks to the third rib on the right hand side of the body. He also overextended 1 inch less than Kov on the right hand and 2 inches less on the left hand when going for maximum power. On top of this Conteh kept his balance over the middle toes better than Kov who at times let his weight get onto the outside of the little toe.